May 21, 2013 5:52 PM

Another bee, this time seen on holiday in Cornwall - it crashed into a car tyre just where I was standing. tThe weather was rather cold and windy - seemed it was having trouble getting going. It looked like a rather unusual kind of bumble bee, but a book gave a picture of a carder bee that looked very like it, but didn't say what species. It was about 2cm long, like a small bumble bee in size and shape. I couldn't get any clear pictures as it kept wriggling about and falling over. It kept putting out a long proboscis that seemed to separate into two separate parts, each in a different shade of amber colour (dark and light). I went to get some sugar water, thinking it was hungry but it had gone by the time I returned.

Can anyone help with ID, and tell me more about these bees?

The back legs seemed to have long orange parts on the outside that I assume are the pollen gathering areas, although they seem much longer than with most bees. The first picture is of the bee when it had fallen onto the road after hitting the car tyre. The outline is showing the rough shape of the bee from the same pic, as it is quite difficult to see clearly.